Norris snatches title race lead with statement win

Lando Norris won the Mexico City Grand Prix with a consummate drive from pole to flag that catapulted him into the lead of an intense world championship fight with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

- Giles Richards

With Piastri managing only fifth and Verstappen in third at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Norris now has the edge at a crucial juncture, with only four meetings remaining.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was in second, while Britain’s Oliver Bearman took a career-best fourth place with a superb drive for Haas.

For Norris, absolutely dominant and unchallenged from the moment he held the lead through turn one, this was a huge result. It is the first time he has held the lead of the championship since the Saudi Arabian GP in April. After Piastri moved ahead in Jeddah, the Australian has maintained a tight grip on the lead but Norris has made his comeback at an enormously significant moment and now has momentum over his teammate.

Norris leads Piastri by one point with Verstappen in third 36 off the pace. The two McLaren teammates lead the charge in a nip-and-tuck fight but the defending champion is still very much in the game and all three are likely to take the title to the wire in the season finale at Abu Dhabi.

It represents a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Norris, who had been left disconsolate after he suffered a mechanical failure at the Dutch GP in August. The DNF dropped the 25-year-old 34 points behind Piastri, at which point Verstappen was 104 points in arrears and the Australian appeared to hold all the cards.